Cognitive approach Flashcards
Basic assumptions
Approach is based on internal mental processes, these are private thoughts in which cognitive psychologists study scientifically to infer cognitive causes for measured behaviour
Introspection can be used to study internal mental processes, participants can be asked to verbalise their thought processes (including their feelings, emotions and sensations), so they can be examined for patterns and trends
Schema
Allows us to make cognitive representations of people, places or situations
Are developed from prior experience
Help us organise and interpret information
Allow us to make short-cuts when interpreting large amounts of information
Negative consequence of schemas
They promote cognitive biases that cause us to ignore information that doesn’t fit with an existing schema
This explains the development of prejudice and stereotypes
Positive self-schemas
Positive expectation from ourselves
Negative self-schemas
Negative expectations from ourselves
Theoretical and computer models
Used to explain and make inferences about mental processes
Believed that information processing in the brain works like a computer
Computer models
Used to understand human cognitive processes
Suggests that the brain acts as a ‘processor’: information is taken from the senses (input); it is then ‘coded’ by the brain (process); to be developed into observable behaviour (output)
Emergence of cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive psychology has been successfully combined with the biological approach to create cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience uses scientific non-invasive scanning techniques to investigate where in the brain different mental processes are based
Example of cognitive neuroscience techniques: lesion studies, pet scans, mri and fmri
Lesion studies
Involve studying the brain scans of patients with brain damage to see the impact upon normal behaviour
E.g. Phineas Cage, damaged his frontal lobe after a railroad explosion where a metal bar went though his skull
As a result, he experienced increased aggression, loss of inhibitions and people described him as ‘drunk’.
Neuroimaging
Involves using brain scans, such as PET or FMRI scans to investigate which parts of the brain become active during particular activities
E.g. PET scans have been used to show that cocaine users have reduced activity in the frontal lobes which are responsible for problem-solving and controlling emotions.
Strength s
Based on scientific and objective measures
This is because cognitive psychologists use methods that are controlled and rigorous and allow for replication
E.g. cognitive neuroscience techniques are used to objectively identify where in the brain different mental processes occur.
As such, PET scans have shown that cocaine addicts have reduced activity in the frontal lobes, the part in the brain responsible for planning and decision making
By merging the 2 fields of biology and cognitive psychology together, it means that the study of the mind has established a credible scientific basis
Strength p
Practical applications
This is when the principles of the cognitive approach are put into practice outside of the laboratory, in real life settings
E.g. the cognitive approach has been dominant in contributing to the development of cognitive behavioural therapy which is used to help treat a range of disorders including depression, OCD and anxiety by challenging negative and irrational thoughts, so that they can have a positive impact on behaviour
This is a strength as it translates well into a successful therapy
Limitation m
The use of the computer models is machine reductionism
This is because the perception that the human mind works in a similar way to a computer is simplistic and flawed
E.g. the human brain and computers differ dramatically, firstly the human mind can forget whereas computers can recall any information that has ever been stored, this means that human mental processing is vulnerable to dead and retrieval failure.
Secondly, when computers encode data there is no emotion of motivation involved, whereas with humans, there is, meaning that human mental processing is subject to emotion
Therefore, the cognitive approach oversimplifies human cognition and ignores important aspects that influence performance.
Limitation l
Low external validity
Which is when an approach doesn’t have the ability for its findings to be generalised to other settings, wider populations or over time
E.g. cognitive psychologists are only able to infer mental processes from the behaviour they observe, so the approach sometimes suffers from being too abstract and theoretical.
Research is also often carried out using artificial stimuli such as recall or word lists in studies of memory which may not represent everyday experience
Therefore, research into cognitive processes may lack external validity, which then causes us to question overall validity of the cognitive approach
